Studio Policy

[ewt]

Please let me know what you think. Which bits are reasonable? Which are not?

Studio policy

1. The teaching year is normally comprised of 36 to 40 lessons, four per month, although this can be flexible.

2. Setting a practise time is the responsibility of the parent and the student.


3. The parent should contact the teacher promptly with any concerns regarding the musical development of the student.

4. The parent should inform the teacher of any special needs the student may have.


5. Forty-eight hours or more notice must be given if there is a missed lesson. If notice is given the lesson will be made up at the convenience of the teacher. If notice is not given no refund will be given. I will try to be flexible in case of sudden illness or bereavement.

6. If the student will be quitting lessons, one month's notice or one month's fees will be paid.


7. Lessons missed due to the fault or illness of the teacher will be made up at a later date.

8. The parent and student are responsible for having adequate materials. These include:
-music books (as specified)
-metronome
-notebook
-pencil and eraser
-suitable quality, regularly serviced instrument
-a music case (when studying at the teacher's home) will greatly reduce wear and tear on books.

9. Payment is to be made in advance at the first lesson of each month. Cash or cheque will be accepted. Failure to make payment for two weeks will result in cancellation of lessons until payment is resumed.

10. Students should take opportunities to perform in public in the community, as well as in student recitals. The teacher should be informed of such performances well in advance so that the student has adequate preparation.

Comments

[cuthere.livejournal.com]

I like. I wish my old music teachers let me know there were rules like that (or... I wish there *were* rules like that...)

I think with #10, you could be really mean and make it that students must participate in student recitals (etc, at least one public performance per howeverlong - 6 months?). That was one of the unwritten rules of my karate lessons, and as much as I hated it then, it made me more confident looking like an idiot in public. Which is an important skill for a kid.

I'd also put in a bit with the practice time idea to maybe use a practice journal? I had one of those too (and goddamn did I hate them), and while not totally necessary (the teacher can tell if you practised or not), they were good for ...responsibility, I guess. Like when you have readers at school and your parents needed to sign at the end of each week that you'd done *x* amount... set the child 20mins (or so) of practice to do every night (I liked the 6 day a week concept), and a diary, and parent signs it. Also gets them into a routine.

I'm also impressed by the one month notice thing. That's good.

Incidentally, what do you teach?

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Practise time really depends on the level of the student. I do not expect a four-year-old beginner to do 20 minutes a day. If an advanced student is only doing 20 minutes a day it will not be enough. I generally ask the student and parent when we start lessons what they think is an appropriate amount of practise time every day, and then gently correct if necessary. I don't usually have to correct upwards.

I try to only implement things like journals that have to be signed by the parents if I feel that not enough practice is being done.

Some of my students are adults etc and trying to make them perform in public would just result in battles. I make it clear to parents of child students that public performance is very important for musical development, but if they still do not think it is appropriate for their child then I cannot really argue with that.

Remember that although I am the teacher, they are the ones paying and if I push too much I will lose students. If I force someone to play in a recital and it is a disaster, it may well be that they stop taking lessons. This is sad for me because then I do not get the much-needed income... it is also sad for them because they may not get the chance to take music lessons again, and never really recover from said disaster.

I teach piano.

Re:

[cuthere.livejournal.com]

Dammit! I thought all my arguments out so well, and you managed to squash them so easily! ;)

(That's actually a compliment, it proves a certain commitment and belief in yourself - and I'm absolutely not bothered by it.)

I guess I was coming from a background of school music lessons (not in classes, but teachers provided by the school, and in school time - maybe two, three kids in a class until high school...). Recorder + viola, if yr interested, varying ages from 7ish until 16.

[redcountess]

You could change the last bit in 5/ to "Special consideration will be given in the case of sudden illness or bereavement" - so you are not using the personal pronoun, more professional. Otherwise, it's really good!

[yady.livejournal.com]

Seeing as you said that some of your students are adults, is it appropriarte to always talk about a 'parent'? There may not always be one.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Should be reasonably easy to adapt the bits that say 'parent' to 'student', and I had planned to do this.

[sourcebook.livejournal.com]

sounds a tad harsh to me, as a parent of a child just starting lessons. Have you had problems that would drive you to be so prescriptive? Can't you just exclude the ones you've had the problems with?

Maybe I'm not understanding the background right. Are you running a music studio, or giving one-to-one lessons either in your home or theirs?

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Arse, I just wrote a really long reply and it got eaten.

I go to people's homes and teach them piano. A very small number of my students come to my home; I am hoping to expand this number in September. Here's hoping my piano will fit around the corner in the hallway so we can put it in my room (only other way in is through a non-opening huge double-glazed window, which I relaly don't want to break).

I had a studio policy very similar to this one (I do not have the original anymore) when I was teaching in Canada. None of my students or their parents had a problem with it.

When I moved here I was advised not to have such a document because it would 'scare people off'. That was a mistake. I have had a lot of time wasted and been messed around. This is my livelihood and I cannot afford to keep a weekly teaching slot open for someone who is going to cancel on a whim with one hour's notice, or not pay me on time. Not when I could be using that time for someone who will pay promptly and only cancel lessons when unavoidable. Most of my students start lessons at the beginning of September or January; if I choose to stop teaching a student then I may not be able to replace that income for several months (the slot has to fit my schedule AND their schedule, and that is difficult within a limited geographical area). For the same reason, quitting lessons without adequate notice is way uncool. If my weekly income is going to drop by £11.25 or £22.50 (very often I teach siblings in the same household), I need time to sort it out or replace that income.

Most of the other stuff is general musicianship; these things will benefit the student greatly as well as making my job far more rewarding and enjoyable.

If you have any suggestions for making it sound less harsh and foreboding I would welcome them and certainly take them into consideration.